SCOTIA — Cooking one Thanksgiving dinner may seem like a major chore for some.

Imagine cooking 350.

That's what Matthew Mazzone and his staff plan to do next week at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia and the Hall of Springs in Saratoga Springs.

His Mansion Catering business has been offering meals to go for several years, and in that time has seen demand grow from 150 dinners the first year to 325 last year. This year, Mazzone expects to prepare 350.

Despite prices that can range from $185 for a dinner for 10 to $245 for 18 guests, customers say the meals are a relative bargain.

"From an economic perspective, for the package and the number of people, it works out to be a lot less," said Bob Bush, a General Electric Co. employee who purchased the Mansion Catering meal last year for the first time. "On top of that, the food was delicious. You're getting a gourmet twist to your Thanksgiving dinner."

More Americans are getting all or part of their Thanksgiving meal prepared from a restaurant, according to data from the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C.

Spokesman Mike Donohue said about one in 10 Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day by dining out in a restaurant. And more than half of consumers will use restaurant-prepared takeout for all or part of their Thanksgiving meal, he said.

"We've definitely seen the numbers increase over time," Donohue added.

A major driver is the convenience factor.

"If you've got people working longer hours, the convenience of take-out is more valuable for them," Donohue said.

Adam Edwards, a dentist in Altamont, said he orders his dinner from Mansion Catering online, gets a confirmation e-mail, and picks the meal up Thanksgiving morning.

"You get to enjoy your friends and family instead of cooking," he said.

Those who order dinners to go should have them placed by the end of this weekend, although several restaurateurs said they'd be flexible and accommodate last-minute customers if they could.

Another factor driving demand: large gatherings at the Thanksgiving table, which might also overwhelm the traditional kitchen, observed Michael Niccoli, the executive chef at the Century House restaurant in Latham.

"A lot of times, it's a large family, and the meal is just too big to cook in a residential kitchen," Niccoli said.

The Century House expects to serve 1,200 meals at its restaurant on Thursday, and will provide as many as three dozen dinners to go that day as well.

Since June, it has provided 40,000 meals, a number that's sure to grow this week.

Other restaurants also are offering Thanksgiving to go, including Dale Miller and Jack's Oyster House, both in Albany.

Both Price Chopper and Hannaford also offer the meals to go, and both have reported steady growth in demand.

Hannaford spokesman Mike Norton said people who might otherwise dine out find the prepared meal an attractive alternative.

And Price Chopper spokeswoman Mona Golub said the dinners, which customers can finish cooking at home, appeal to those who don't have the time or inclination to prepare the meal from scratch.

While the two supermarket chains have been offering turkeys this year for as little as 40 cents a pound (Hannaford) or 39 cents a pound (Price Chopper), those who buy the prepared dinners say that avoiding prolonged shopping trips, and having to purchase ingredients they might not use again, tips the balance in favor of letting someone else do the cooking.

A Hannaford dinner for eight is $54.99, unchanged from last year. Price Chopper is charging $59.99 for a dinner that will feed seven to eight people.

But Norton said that buying the equivalent ingredients and preparing them yourself could cost as little as $19.87.

That won't convince those who have chosen the dinner-to-go route.

"Being able to spend more time relaxing and enjoying the day off, instead of cooking," is a big advantage, said Glen Shields, an accountant from Rexford who has already placed his order with Mansion Catering for this year's dinner.